The euro rose for a second day against the dollar after a report showed a gauge of manufacturing and services in the 17-nation region contracted less than economists forecast in February. Europe’s shared currency appreciated versus most of its 16 major peers as Italian bonds rose after European finance ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday said some nations may be able to loosen targets for the reduction of their deficits. Australia’s currency climbed for the first time in four days as the Reserve Bank kept interest rates on hold and China said it will boost fiscal spending by 10 percent this year. The euro climbed 0.4 percent to $1.3072 as of 9:12 a.m. London time. It was little changed at 121.72 yen, after earlier dropping as much as 0.5 percent. Japan’s currency appreciated 0.4 percent to 93.12 per dollar. The so-called Aussie rallied 0.4 percent to $1.0241. A composite gauge of euro-area services and manufacturing output was 47.9 in February, versus 48.6 in January, London- based Markit Economics said in a report today. Analysts had forecast a drop to 47.3, according to the median in a Bloomberg News survey. To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net

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